ALBUM REVIEW: The Goa Express – S/T

Communion Records

Released: 20.10.23

Incubated within the venerated confines of Manchester’s indie scene, this quintet’s debut harkens back to an age where every Tom, Dick or Harry (and even the occasional Sally) saw a pathway from NME cover shoot, to chart-topping album, to arena-filling stardom. That kind of trajectory won’t propel The Goa Express in 2023, yet there’s enough pluckiness and urgency – if not originality – within these 10 tracks to suggest they’ll go far.

Certainly, with B and C-list indie sleaze survivors now hailed as generational marvels by fans too young to remember their commercial heyday, bright anthems such as Honey, Can’t Stay Quiet and Better Than Okay offer a fresher, instinctive alternative. Given the choice between The Goa Express or reheated indie disco from The Kooks or The Wombats, I know who I’d opt for…